Tuesday, 17 March 2020
The Greatest Showman (2017)
Celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.
Top-notch production, excellent cast and good songs all combined for - a musical glorification of a historically dubious character; just like in the heyday of the Hollywood musical, no more, no less.
Im Labyrinth des Schweigens (2014)
Upon learning that many former Nazis returned to their pre-war lives with no penalty, an ambitious German prosecutor vows to bring them to justice.
Well-intentioned historical drama marks an important moment in the development of post-WWII Germany, well-made, but not really provocative or controversial.
Sunday, 15 March 2020
Wuthering Heights (2011)
A poor boy of unknown origins is rescued from poverty and taken in by the Earnshaw family where he develops an intense relationship with his young foster sister, Cathy.
Dark and intense adaptation is at best evoking passion and dread from the naturalistic and beautiful comprehension of the Yorkshire moors; in comparison, the actual story fades behind the visual brilliance.
Maltin**: "...retains Brontë's familiar account of love and death on the wind-torn Yorkshire moors. Its sole novelty, a dark-skinned antihero, agrees with her written description. But while it's still the usual doom (hers) and gloom (his) and seethes with passion, it utterly lacks romance. Moreover, bleak settings and unlikable people make for a morose sit, both murky and earthy - often all too literally."
Saturday, 14 March 2020
Dreigroschenfilm (2018)
Against many odds, Bertolt Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera" becomes a phenomenal success: the film industry picks up the scent and seeks to make the master direct a film version of his play.
Superior German production tries to do justice to Bertolt Brecht and his work with a complex narrative structure, atmospheric dramatization and musical passages.
Friday, 13 March 2020
Shin Gojira (2016)
Japan is plunged into chaos upon the appearance of a giant monster.
Likeable resurgence of the original Godzilla monster successfully combines old-fashioned and modern digital effects, but is quite talkative and without much of a focus on a central cast.
On rewatching: indeed quite talkative, but the monster scenes are grand.
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